According to sources who wish to remain anonymous, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that Vanbarton Group has intentions of converting the Archdiocese of New York’s headquarters building into rental housing. The developer has agreed to purchase the property at 1011 First Ave. in Manhattan for over $100 million from the archdiocese.
Bloomberg also revealed that CBRE vice chairman Doug Middleton represented the archdiocese in this deal. This follows Vanbarton’s recent agreement to acquire a Lower Manhattan office building at 77 Water St., with plans for it to be converted into apartments.
Earlier this year, the Catholic archdiocese signed a lease with Feil Organization’s 488 Madison Ave., consolidating its offices closer to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. For decades, their headquarters had been located at 1011 First Ave., but they have been considering selling since as early as 2017.
As many older buildings struggle with vacancies due to COVID-19, there has been an increase in office-to-residential conversions throughout Manhattan. Most of these deals have taken place downtown where there is a high number of vacant properties following shifts within the financial industry from Wall Street towards Midtown.
